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“It’s a good place when all you have is hope and not expectations.” –Film Director Danny Boyle When it comes to the “great sights” of the world – the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, etc. – I try to keep my expectations low. After all, what are the chances […]

“We’re almost there, Dave. Now put on that blindfold.” Calm down, folks. This is not that kind of story. But there is something about blindfolds. In spy movies, our hero always needs to wear a blindfold before meeting the kingpin in his hidden lair. Blindfolds ensure that secret places remain secret. They also increase the […]

“Life is too important to be taken seriously!” — Oscar Wilde If I was a serious person, I wouldn’t be on this platform, 100 feet above the ground, preparing to zip across a Central American cloud forest. Serious people understand the importance of life (and limb). Serious people don’t do dangerous activities where there’s no […]

“You can’t go home again because home has ceased to exist except in the mothballs of memory.” –John Steinbeck I’m not someone who likes to do the same twice. If I read a book once, I’m probably not going to read it again. What’s the point? I know how it’s going to come out! Same […]

Call me suspicious, but what am I to make of restaurants that brag about serving “locally sourced ingredients”? What does that even mean? Are you telling me that they buy all their food at local farms and farmer’s markets? Really? I have to wonder if what if what they really mean is that they purchase […]

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved treasure hunts. Theres something singular about following clues to a final, mystery location that gets me every time. Piss Alley in Tokyo, Japan, is pretty much the perfect treasure hunt mystery location. Why? Well, to start, it’s devilishly hard to find. It’s hidden in plain sight. And […]

“Hey guys, I think you need to come out here.” “Come on, Dave. We just got our drinks.” “No seriously, I really think you should come outside—now!” It’s the last day of a very enjoyable tour through the South Island of New Zealand. My fellow tour-mates and I have hiked through the forest. We’ve sea-kayaked […]

If it’s possible to be two things at once, as a traveler, I am both 1) lazy and 2) cheap. Nowhere is this more of a contradiction than when I’m contemplating how to get over to Masada. On the one hand, I can take the cableway, which is something like $12 RT. OR, I can […]

“We’ve been standing here with our thumbs out for over an hour now, Dave. It’s time to give up!” “Come on, Denisia. We’re almost there. Let’s give it a few more minutes!” It’s 1984, Northern France, on the border between Brittany and Normandy. As college juniors studying in Paris, neither Denisia or I have hitch-hiked […]

When it comes to travel, I’m pretty cheap. That doesn’t mean I stay in a youth hostel every night; my 20’s are far behind me. These days, I like a nice bed and a private bathroom. What I don’t like, however, is spending a fortune on expensive tours. WHY do I need a $100 guide […]